In association with Aiken Promotions and arrangement by Neil O’Brien Entertainment, Dublin’s very own Imelda May has officially announced that she will be performing her own headline show at The O2 in Dublin on Friday the 16th of December 2011. Tickets are priced from €37 and will be on sale from Friday September 23rd 2011 through Ticketmaster and outlets nationwide. Click here to but tickets! 0818 719 300 – Republic of Ireland customers 0844 277 4455 – Northern Ireland customers & 00353 1 456 9569 – International customers.

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Imelda May is a hometown hero. She is the subject of perhaps the most appealing, rewarding musical success story in Ireland in many years. She reminds us that it’s still possible to have an idea and run with it without compromising its vision. And this is very much her vision, her style, her songs, her unique world. She is inspired by the ghosts of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, the twang of Elmore James, the pathos of Billie Holiday, the swagger of Wanda Jackson. But she is very much her own woman, a walking melting pot of style and attitude. She is a Liberties girl whose self-belief and self-penned songs have taken her to international stardom and this concert will be her biggest yet, a celebration of everything she has achieved with the albums Love Tattoo and Mayhem over the last three years.

Here’s what the press have to say:

“For all her retro appeal, May is a thoroughly modern woman in control of her own art. Mayhem is self-written and self-produced, the lyrical wit of the songs and a subtle variance in musical shading maintaining momentum and variety…the new queen of the oldest rock ’n’ roll game in town.” – The Telegraph

“An imperious, take-no-prisoners personality who can certainly electrify a tune with the tigerish yelps and whoops that run deep into the marrow of the blues.” - Kevin Le Gendre, BBC Music

“Imelda May’s time to shine has come, as she delivers a sophomore album that oozes musical brilliance…one of the strongest and most eclectic albums of the year.” – Clash

“Can Imelda conquer the world? There’s no May about it.” – News Of The World

Every new year sees Imelda reaching greater heights. Her latest album, the triple platinum selling Mayhem, has made her many new friends. Her music has led her to the Grammys to perform a tribute to Les Paul with Jeff Beck, to sing for the Obamas in Dublin, to duet with Lou Reed, to rock Milan Fashion Week and multiple appearances on Later With Jools Holland. At the end of January 2011 she arrived back in Dublin for two nights to tear-up Vicar Street, mere yards from where she grew up. She may be a Dublin girl yet in June Imelda performed to an incredible 10,000 people over two nights live at the Marquee in Cork, emphasising the nationwide love for this lady.

She’s done Glasto, WOMAD, Hyde Park and even Lollapalooza. She’s appeared on Conan, Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson and, of course, Graham Norton! In June this year legendary Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne dedicated a program to her in his One Night Only series of music and chat which featured icons such as Christy Moore and Bob Geldof.

Celebrating her as a true inspiration to the city she received a Lord Mayor’s Award in June this year. Speaking about Imelda, Lord Mayor Gerry Breen said she was “an overnight success after 15 years.” He said that she was a “great personality” who has not been affected by success, and added: “She’s a great ambassador for Dublin.”

Not bad for the only girl in class who wasn’t into Wet Wet Wet.

Born in The Liberties, Dublin, Imelda May is the youngest of five siblings and was the most susceptible to the various influences from her older brothers and sisters, which she could hear constantly through the walls of their two bedroom house. There was folk, the obligatory chart pop, and then there was Elvis Presley. “My brother was a mad Elvis fan, and I found a tape in his room with Elvis, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. I thought the music was fantastic.” By the age of nine Imelda had fallen in love with rockabilly and the blues – singing along at home and recording herself with a plastic Fisher Price tape recorder! “I started singing in a church with my sister Maria when I was four and I’ve been singing pretty much ever since. There was no stage school or musical colleges – just variety club competitions – but I was determined as I love singing so much.”

Imelda May began performing in clubs when she was 16 years old and had the honour of being occasionally barred from her own shows at Dublin’s Bruxelles club for being underage. “I got really obsessed about going to those clubs even though I was way too young to be allowed in. The security guards would turn a blind eye because they knew I was just there for the music. I used to stand at the side of the stage, hoping to get asked up to join a jam session, writing the keys on my arm so I knew what to sing.”

After fifteen years of singing in other peoples bands Imelda finally took the plunge and set up her own band in 2006. Acclaimed guitarist (and also Imelda’s husband) Darrel Higham took the role of lead guitarist, although Imelda was unsure at the beginning if it was the best idea. “History doesn’t bode well for married couples in bands – look at Ike and Tina Turner, Sonny and Cher, but we tried it and it worked out great. Life and the band is all one mish mash, but we do get time together as husband and wife and time apart – it just works.” The band recorded their previous album, “Love Tattoo” independently and only expected to sell a few hundred copies at gigs, but one Jools Holland performance later and the album had sold triple platinum in Ireland.

Her third album, Mayhem released last year on Decca Records has Imelda’s trademark rockabilly sound but it’s lyrics are firmly set in the here and now. “I’m always observing people so my songs are an amalgamation of my own life and watching the craziness out of the window. The title track came to me after leaving a gig at 3am and seeing two guys having a fight and a girl standing there crying. It happens in every town on a Friday or Saturday night. – Mayhem!” Another of the album tracks, “Kentish Town Waltz” was re-recorded as a duet with the legendary Lou Reed for release as a single last year. The bittersweet love song lends itself well to the duet format while Reed’s gravelly tones sit perfectly with Imelda’s powerful yet playful voice. Describing the song Imelda says, “We were badly broke and the bailiffs were knocking on the door but we were mad about each other so we got through it.”

Imelda May has just released More Mayhem, as a special limited edition version of the album which has sold 200,000 copies worldwide to date. The special edition includes three new tracks – “Roadrunner”, “Gypsy” and “Blues A Calling” plus Imelda’s previously unreleased cover of Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight”.

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